Matrix Revolutions: The Epic Edition
Updated
User reviews
23 reviews
Overall rating
8.9
Audio/Video Quality
9.6(11)
Audio Editing
9.3(11)
Visual Editing
8.6(11)
Narrative
7.9(11)
Enjoyment
8.8(23)
(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Enjoyment
10.0
VIDEO
I watched the magnificent AVCHD (stripped menus, just watched the m2ts file on my HTPC) and the picture quality is GLORIOUS.
10/10
AUDIO
Some has voiced concerns that the center channel is too low, but while the action gets very loud, the dialog is always very clear in my 5.1 system (Dolby Digital bitstream).
10/10
STUFF THAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I still hate the music in the first fight scene and would personally have changed it to something else. Maybe some tribal style music in the same style as the Neo/Serif fight? As the beat starts I find myself thinking I’m watching some MTV style trailer for the movie.
That horrible CGI in the over the top “Neo Vs. The Smiths” fight should be missed by nobody. I guess it must have been hard to trim out, but all the “hamster style” Kung Fu that consists of running round and round in a wheel consisting of Smith agents isn’t exactly like the Yen Woo Ping stuff that made the fights in the original movie so awesome.
Up to the point where Trinity falls out of the window with an agent shooting at her, I didn’t notice many cuts. Kudos. But also, here’s where I start to notice stuff. Not all is bad, but personally, I would have tried to limit the amount of fade to black/short/another fade to black by trying to tie all segments concerning each group of characters’ story arch witch clean cuts rather than keeping the fades. It almost felt like watching the end of Return Of The King. LOL. My girlfriend joined in on the watch here and she even went “WHAT IS UP!?” at those. Before that she was clueless about it being a Fan Edit and seemed to enjoy herself.
I also thought I’d mention that I noticed a glitchy looking cut right as Smith hammers Neo down into a hole of water and mud then going into the Zion command center.
CONCLUSION
This edit truly is EPIC, though I feel some of the action scenes could have been cut in half simply for pacing. I’ve always loved the highway fight/chase, but here I believe it was missing some stuff from the Theatrical? The Zion carnage with all the Sentinels, giant drill bot and whatnot could have been cut in half IMO, I didn’t time it but it feels like it’s going on forever. I’ve always felt like this about that part though.
I really LOVED this new ending, and this will be my preferred version to accompany the first film for sure. I would just have loved to have it 30 minutes shorter (see above for cutting suggestions). Also missing is the EPIC cleaveage Persephone sports in Revolutions. That was the highlight of the theatrical movie for me, so again, kudos on making this so much better. But the boobs should have stayed somehow.
The Architect showing up at the end is a bit of a wtf moment as he’s never seen before in this edit. Or I might have missed something?
EDITING SCORE 9/10
An overall score of 10/10 from me.
Review by emphatic — August 6, 2011 @ 12:40 AM
I watched the magnificent AVCHD (stripped menus, just watched the m2ts file on my HTPC) and the picture quality is GLORIOUS.
10/10
AUDIO
Some has voiced concerns that the center channel is too low, but while the action gets very loud, the dialog is always very clear in my 5.1 system (Dolby Digital bitstream).
10/10
STUFF THAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I still hate the music in the first fight scene and would personally have changed it to something else. Maybe some tribal style music in the same style as the Neo/Serif fight? As the beat starts I find myself thinking I’m watching some MTV style trailer for the movie.
That horrible CGI in the over the top “Neo Vs. The Smiths” fight should be missed by nobody. I guess it must have been hard to trim out, but all the “hamster style” Kung Fu that consists of running round and round in a wheel consisting of Smith agents isn’t exactly like the Yen Woo Ping stuff that made the fights in the original movie so awesome.
Up to the point where Trinity falls out of the window with an agent shooting at her, I didn’t notice many cuts. Kudos. But also, here’s where I start to notice stuff. Not all is bad, but personally, I would have tried to limit the amount of fade to black/short/another fade to black by trying to tie all segments concerning each group of characters’ story arch witch clean cuts rather than keeping the fades. It almost felt like watching the end of Return Of The King. LOL. My girlfriend joined in on the watch here and she even went “WHAT IS UP!?” at those. Before that she was clueless about it being a Fan Edit and seemed to enjoy herself.
I also thought I’d mention that I noticed a glitchy looking cut right as Smith hammers Neo down into a hole of water and mud then going into the Zion command center.
CONCLUSION
This edit truly is EPIC, though I feel some of the action scenes could have been cut in half simply for pacing. I’ve always loved the highway fight/chase, but here I believe it was missing some stuff from the Theatrical? The Zion carnage with all the Sentinels, giant drill bot and whatnot could have been cut in half IMO, I didn’t time it but it feels like it’s going on forever. I’ve always felt like this about that part though.
I really LOVED this new ending, and this will be my preferred version to accompany the first film for sure. I would just have loved to have it 30 minutes shorter (see above for cutting suggestions). Also missing is the EPIC cleaveage Persephone sports in Revolutions. That was the highlight of the theatrical movie for me, so again, kudos on making this so much better. But the boobs should have stayed somehow.
The Architect showing up at the end is a bit of a wtf moment as he’s never seen before in this edit. Or I might have missed something?
EDITING SCORE 9/10
An overall score of 10/10 from me.
Review by emphatic — August 6, 2011 @ 12:40 AM
E
(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Overall rating
7.0
Audio Editing
6.0
Visual Editing
8.0
Narrative
6.0
Enjoyment
8.0
It is a bold and confident step to refuse to tell us what changes have been made in this Matrix edit, but I put my trust in GeminiGod and set aside three hours to see if the ‘Epic Edition’ meets its highly ambitious goals. While this is certainly a project which has received a lot of effort and is a display of some impressive technical skills, on the whole I feel it loses its way as much as the other Matrix sequel edits that I have viewed.
The Good
- In general, the trimming down of the films is good, I particularly enjoyed the first hour which was a finer version of Reloaded.
- The added scenes, though noticable, are still impressive.
- The inclusion of the two animatrix films is an excellent choice and perfectly sets oneself up for an epic Matrix experience.
The downfall however, is the narrative. It isn’t easy to blend two films or to reshape the plot as much as GeminiGod has attempted, and again for the first hour it mostly holds together. But towards the middle, things get shaky.
It is not clear how Neo and Morpheus find the Meriovingian so quickly, but this can be assumed by the audience. However, immediately following that scene, Neo meets the Oracle for a second time (taken from the second film): the fact that he knows where she is undermines the film’s plot so far – everybody disobeyed direct orders simply awaiting word from the oracle, Neo must then pass a test simply to be taken to her, after which she dissapears again. The conversation which they have does not make much sense in the context of its new place. The Smith subplot now feels rushed and does not feel like the logical conclusion to Neo’s journey (because it isn’t). The squeezing together of the two films makes an already convoluted plot even weaker – look at the ships for example. As the films begins, Ship #1 The Nebucaneza returns, but ship #2 waits for the Oracle. Ship #2 returns, so #1 leaves with ships #3 and #4. Ship #3 gets blown up, then ship #1 is also blown up, at which point ship #5 turns up and takes the crew of ship #1 to find ship #4. Five ships with no characterisation of the crews is too many but at least over the course of two movies they progress the plot, here the flaws of the sequels are highlighted rather than reduced. Similarly, the inclusion of every Neo fight scene from the movies means we spend most of the time watching him engage in pointless fights (agents, to seriphim, to smith, to meriovingian guards, to smith again). Finally, the inclusion of Sati, and the Architect at the end doesn’t make much sense. Sati may have been hard to edit out, but the use of the Architect would be plain confusing to somebody who had not seen the original, not to mention his dialogue with the Oracle doesn’t really work without the plot developments cut from this edit.
On the plus side, the Epic Edition did remind me how much I enjoy the sequels in spite of their obvious flaws, but the films are designed to be separate. Putting the films focus on Zion is a good idea, and it works for the first half, but by the second half the edit is trying to be something which the source material does not allow.
I do not mean to put down a labour of love, and my review is only harsh due to my ridiculously high standards; for me a true fanedit is one that manages to improve on the original film – a feat in itself – and can be viewed with absolutely no knowledge that it is an edit (for example, Star Wars Revisited, Black Knight Rises, Spiderman Redemption). There are some good ideas here, and some very high quality editing, but the final product isn’t for me.
Overall ratings
DVD menu: 8/10 simple, with excellent selection of shorts.
Sound 6/10 the dialogue is very quiet and the action is far too loud, although this might be simply from the original. I did find myself having to constantly change the volume while watching.
Narrative 6/10
Editing 8/10 (a few technical errors)
Review by gugliemo — June 24, 2011 @ 4:23 AM
The Good
- In general, the trimming down of the films is good, I particularly enjoyed the first hour which was a finer version of Reloaded.
- The added scenes, though noticable, are still impressive.
- The inclusion of the two animatrix films is an excellent choice and perfectly sets oneself up for an epic Matrix experience.
The downfall however, is the narrative. It isn’t easy to blend two films or to reshape the plot as much as GeminiGod has attempted, and again for the first hour it mostly holds together. But towards the middle, things get shaky.
It is not clear how Neo and Morpheus find the Meriovingian so quickly, but this can be assumed by the audience. However, immediately following that scene, Neo meets the Oracle for a second time (taken from the second film): the fact that he knows where she is undermines the film’s plot so far – everybody disobeyed direct orders simply awaiting word from the oracle, Neo must then pass a test simply to be taken to her, after which she dissapears again. The conversation which they have does not make much sense in the context of its new place. The Smith subplot now feels rushed and does not feel like the logical conclusion to Neo’s journey (because it isn’t). The squeezing together of the two films makes an already convoluted plot even weaker – look at the ships for example. As the films begins, Ship #1 The Nebucaneza returns, but ship #2 waits for the Oracle. Ship #2 returns, so #1 leaves with ships #3 and #4. Ship #3 gets blown up, then ship #1 is also blown up, at which point ship #5 turns up and takes the crew of ship #1 to find ship #4. Five ships with no characterisation of the crews is too many but at least over the course of two movies they progress the plot, here the flaws of the sequels are highlighted rather than reduced. Similarly, the inclusion of every Neo fight scene from the movies means we spend most of the time watching him engage in pointless fights (agents, to seriphim, to smith, to meriovingian guards, to smith again). Finally, the inclusion of Sati, and the Architect at the end doesn’t make much sense. Sati may have been hard to edit out, but the use of the Architect would be plain confusing to somebody who had not seen the original, not to mention his dialogue with the Oracle doesn’t really work without the plot developments cut from this edit.
On the plus side, the Epic Edition did remind me how much I enjoy the sequels in spite of their obvious flaws, but the films are designed to be separate. Putting the films focus on Zion is a good idea, and it works for the first half, but by the second half the edit is trying to be something which the source material does not allow.
I do not mean to put down a labour of love, and my review is only harsh due to my ridiculously high standards; for me a true fanedit is one that manages to improve on the original film – a feat in itself – and can be viewed with absolutely no knowledge that it is an edit (for example, Star Wars Revisited, Black Knight Rises, Spiderman Redemption). There are some good ideas here, and some very high quality editing, but the final product isn’t for me.
Overall ratings
DVD menu: 8/10 simple, with excellent selection of shorts.
Sound 6/10 the dialogue is very quiet and the action is far too loud, although this might be simply from the original. I did find myself having to constantly change the volume while watching.
Narrative 6/10
Editing 8/10 (a few technical errors)
Review by gugliemo — June 24, 2011 @ 4:23 AM
F
(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Enjoyment
9.0
Matrix sequel fan edits are some of the more prevalent on this site. The Epic Edition is certainly going up against some steep competition. Despite the numerous others that have been made this one is now my personal favorite story wise.
First off the editing is near seamless, watching the film I am still amazed on how much was changed yet how little it shows unless you are familiar with the original sources.
Audio work, video work, image quality: all excellent. In terms of audio/visual presentation this easily is equal to or perhaps even surpasses the legendary Dezionized cut.
Now the actual edit was refreshingly new. There are some controversial choices in terms of scenes to keep. In a sense the Epic Edition goes against popular consensus in retaining minor characters, Zion, and the war scenes. As well as the infamous “Dance Scene” and “Heart Restart Scene”.
However do not let these factors dissuade you. Some edits try to make the film work by creating some sort of conclusion at the end of Reloaded. In my opinion Reloaded will always remain incomplete without a least partly including Revolutions. The challenge was creating an edit of the Revolutions material that removed or at least downplayed all that was wrong with the original. This is where the Epic Edition shines. By retaining minor characters that played a part in the war scenes, as well as removing the machine city/smith outside of the matrix scenes, the film takes on a completely different feel that is both faster and more cohesive then the originals.
The boldest edit was a completely different Source scene then the Architect’s office in Reloaded. To me it was pure awesomeness as well as an amazing technical feat. It works better than any edit prior that tried to remove the “multiple Ones” plot twist which nearly everyone hated.
Nitpicking wise I feel that the ending would have been better with the inclusion of one scene. A scene from the beginning of Revolutions with Neo in a coma. Perhaps with some sort of music change to create a different mood such a scene would establish his death a little more clearly then the end Smith battle does.
Also, while I can understand the reason for including the dance scene, I feel the scene is still a little too “in your face” symbolism which was one of the Wachowski brothers main stumbling blocks. Reducing instead of eliminating the dance scene would still have established the main contrast between the Matrix and the real world without that contrast being over emphasized.
The heart restart scene did not bother me. It works surprisingly well in the context of this edit.
There are many fan edits for the Matrix sequels out there. But this is now my solid favorite. Amazing Job!
9/10
Review by LostInTime — June 21, 2011 @ 12:52 AM
First off the editing is near seamless, watching the film I am still amazed on how much was changed yet how little it shows unless you are familiar with the original sources.
Audio work, video work, image quality: all excellent. In terms of audio/visual presentation this easily is equal to or perhaps even surpasses the legendary Dezionized cut.
Now the actual edit was refreshingly new. There are some controversial choices in terms of scenes to keep. In a sense the Epic Edition goes against popular consensus in retaining minor characters, Zion, and the war scenes. As well as the infamous “Dance Scene” and “Heart Restart Scene”.
However do not let these factors dissuade you. Some edits try to make the film work by creating some sort of conclusion at the end of Reloaded. In my opinion Reloaded will always remain incomplete without a least partly including Revolutions. The challenge was creating an edit of the Revolutions material that removed or at least downplayed all that was wrong with the original. This is where the Epic Edition shines. By retaining minor characters that played a part in the war scenes, as well as removing the machine city/smith outside of the matrix scenes, the film takes on a completely different feel that is both faster and more cohesive then the originals.
The boldest edit was a completely different Source scene then the Architect’s office in Reloaded. To me it was pure awesomeness as well as an amazing technical feat. It works better than any edit prior that tried to remove the “multiple Ones” plot twist which nearly everyone hated.
Nitpicking wise I feel that the ending would have been better with the inclusion of one scene. A scene from the beginning of Revolutions with Neo in a coma. Perhaps with some sort of music change to create a different mood such a scene would establish his death a little more clearly then the end Smith battle does.
Also, while I can understand the reason for including the dance scene, I feel the scene is still a little too “in your face” symbolism which was one of the Wachowski brothers main stumbling blocks. Reducing instead of eliminating the dance scene would still have established the main contrast between the Matrix and the real world without that contrast being over emphasized.
The heart restart scene did not bother me. It works surprisingly well in the context of this edit.
There are many fan edits for the Matrix sequels out there. But this is now my solid favorite. Amazing Job!
9/10
Review by LostInTime — June 21, 2011 @ 12:52 AM
L
(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Overall rating
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
9.0
Generally speaking, I enjoyed the Matrix sequels. Sure, they weren’t as good as the original, but few sequels are. I never really bothered with any edits until now because hey, why watch an edit of a film I like in its original form? Then Geminigod came along, with promises of an epic finale and so on. I was intrigued, and since I had the time to spare, being on summer break from university, I decided I’d check it out.
And I was absolutely impressed. About an hour and forty minutes into it I asked myself where my rubber stamp was. Ambition is the name of this game, and it’s safe to say that Geminigod is winning (duh).
VIDEO:
Absolutely stunning. The Blu-ray source (and the further clean up by the editor) really shines through even on the DL DVD version. Gem also did some VFX work for a few bits (no, I won’t tell you which) and his work was very well done. There was only one shot that was a bit off due to color correction, but it was a necessary evil.
10/10
AUDIO:
Lacking the proper equipment for a true 5.1 experience I can’t really say how the surround was, but it sounded good, though I did feel a few times the music was over powering the dialogue and sound effects, though I think that may be a flaw of the original and not this edit.
10/10
THE EDIT
The opening was very well edited, flowing from the Revolutions code opening through to the Reloaded one. The title “The Epic Edition” was a bit awkward…perhaps if it had been in the Matrix font it would have fit a bit better, but hey, it was still good.
While several semi-major scenes were excised, I didn’t really notice until about twenty minutes after the cut bit would have taken place. All of the cuts were well made, though there was ONE I didn’t agree with at the end in terms of dialogue, but it was a minor quibble. There was one flash frame during a cut in the rave sequence at the beginning, but the funny thing is, I couldn’t recall what had been cut. There were a couple awkward fades elsewhere, but nothing overly distracting.
Now, for the story. Gem did a great job condensing the two films to a slightly-less-than-three hour long experience. There are a few spots near the middle where he began to use blend the events of Revolutions and Reloaded, and it worked wonderfully. Gone is the silly plotline if Neo being comatose in the Matrix and everything related to that. While he DOES have a noted change in demeanor after the Neb is destroyed, it fits with what he has to do. Is it perfect? No, but if you pretend that you’ve never seen the original versions, it works.
The biggest issue is that, the way the story has been restructured, a number of characters don’t really get an emotional climax, or one at all. It can be left to interpretation, but something would have been nice. Though, this is more a fault to the source material not really having much room for alternate takes, but Gem did the best with what he had to work with.
I don’t want to write a novel on what works and what doesn’t, but suffice it to say that this edit is brilliant, and a definite improvement on the sequels.
8/10
THE DVD:
The disc is simple enough: the movie, chapter selection, and two bonus features: The Final Flight of the Osiris as the prologue, and The Second Renaissance from the Animatrix as “In The Beginning.” As with the main feature, the quality here is excellent.
10/10
IN SUM
I really enjoyed watching this, and as it charged towards its climax, it felt as if I was watching a new film entirely. The few faults are easy to overlook, and on the whole it is an enjoyable experience.
9/10
Review by Aztek463 — June 10, 2011 @ 10:33 PM
And I was absolutely impressed. About an hour and forty minutes into it I asked myself where my rubber stamp was. Ambition is the name of this game, and it’s safe to say that Geminigod is winning (duh).
VIDEO:
Absolutely stunning. The Blu-ray source (and the further clean up by the editor) really shines through even on the DL DVD version. Gem also did some VFX work for a few bits (no, I won’t tell you which) and his work was very well done. There was only one shot that was a bit off due to color correction, but it was a necessary evil.
10/10
AUDIO:
Lacking the proper equipment for a true 5.1 experience I can’t really say how the surround was, but it sounded good, though I did feel a few times the music was over powering the dialogue and sound effects, though I think that may be a flaw of the original and not this edit.
10/10
THE EDIT
The opening was very well edited, flowing from the Revolutions code opening through to the Reloaded one. The title “The Epic Edition” was a bit awkward…perhaps if it had been in the Matrix font it would have fit a bit better, but hey, it was still good.
While several semi-major scenes were excised, I didn’t really notice until about twenty minutes after the cut bit would have taken place. All of the cuts were well made, though there was ONE I didn’t agree with at the end in terms of dialogue, but it was a minor quibble. There was one flash frame during a cut in the rave sequence at the beginning, but the funny thing is, I couldn’t recall what had been cut. There were a couple awkward fades elsewhere, but nothing overly distracting.
Now, for the story. Gem did a great job condensing the two films to a slightly-less-than-three hour long experience. There are a few spots near the middle where he began to use blend the events of Revolutions and Reloaded, and it worked wonderfully. Gone is the silly plotline if Neo being comatose in the Matrix and everything related to that. While he DOES have a noted change in demeanor after the Neb is destroyed, it fits with what he has to do. Is it perfect? No, but if you pretend that you’ve never seen the original versions, it works.
The biggest issue is that, the way the story has been restructured, a number of characters don’t really get an emotional climax, or one at all. It can be left to interpretation, but something would have been nice. Though, this is more a fault to the source material not really having much room for alternate takes, but Gem did the best with what he had to work with.
I don’t want to write a novel on what works and what doesn’t, but suffice it to say that this edit is brilliant, and a definite improvement on the sequels.
8/10
THE DVD:
The disc is simple enough: the movie, chapter selection, and two bonus features: The Final Flight of the Osiris as the prologue, and The Second Renaissance from the Animatrix as “In The Beginning.” As with the main feature, the quality here is excellent.
10/10
IN SUM
I really enjoyed watching this, and as it charged towards its climax, it felt as if I was watching a new film entirely. The few faults are easy to overlook, and on the whole it is an enjoyable experience.
9/10
Review by Aztek463 — June 10, 2011 @ 10:33 PM
A
(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Enjoyment
8.0
Geminigod,
Much much better than the originals. First I want to say that it is technically near flawless.
What I like:
1. With the new Oracle being brought in quicker, it does flow with the movie quite a bit more
2. The dance sequence is there, but cut to bare minimum so that it makes sense and the audience can stand it
3. Glad to see Smith not being able to come out of the Matrix and getting rid of Neo having powers out of the matrix.
My one compliant:
I have never been a fan of the first Neo vs Smith fight (CGI wise it’s horrid and it runs too long) ….. so personally I would have went directly from the Oracle talking to the Merovingian’s place. I think cutting this action sequence also makes the action Sequence at the Merovingian’s Manor and the Car chase better.
Iffy about:
1. I have never been a fan of the original ending, always felt it should have ended at Morpheus’s scene.
2. I do agree that there is technical end to Neo and Trinity’s part in the movie and that feels missing.
Definite 8/10
Review by revel911 — June 10, 2011 @ 6:01 PM
Much much better than the originals. First I want to say that it is technically near flawless.
What I like:
1. With the new Oracle being brought in quicker, it does flow with the movie quite a bit more
2. The dance sequence is there, but cut to bare minimum so that it makes sense and the audience can stand it
3. Glad to see Smith not being able to come out of the Matrix and getting rid of Neo having powers out of the matrix.
My one compliant:
I have never been a fan of the first Neo vs Smith fight (CGI wise it’s horrid and it runs too long) ….. so personally I would have went directly from the Oracle talking to the Merovingian’s place. I think cutting this action sequence also makes the action Sequence at the Merovingian’s Manor and the Car chase better.
Iffy about:
1. I have never been a fan of the original ending, always felt it should have ended at Morpheus’s scene.
2. I do agree that there is technical end to Neo and Trinity’s part in the movie and that feels missing.
Definite 8/10
Review by revel911 — June 10, 2011 @ 6:01 PM
R